Laura Robson upsets Petra Kvitova in round two – Australian Open 2013
18-year-old British tennis prodigy, Laura Robson, registered a classic upset against the former Wimbledon Champion, Petra Kvitova, in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday. She won the most gruelling match of the
tournament with the scores of 2-6, 6-3, 11-9.
The opening set was completely dominated by the 22 year-old Czech who maintained pressure on her counterpart throughout the first battle. She broke serve twice in succession in the last four games of the opening set to end the
first phase in quick succession. She inched a step closer to the third round berth after a one-sided battle of just 38 minutes.
However, the second set witnessed a masterful performance from the 18-year-old Briton. She took control of the proceedings in the fourth game when she broke her rival’s serve to take a lead and protected it with a serve hold to
make it 4-1. She bagged another breakpoint in the following return game to push the lead to 5-1 in her favour. Robson just had to serve out the set in the following game but she failed to do so. However, she had another opportunity which was flawlessly converted
by her. The set took almost 48 minutes to wrap up a successful comeback for the 53rd ranked Briton.
The final set was an absolute treat to witness. Final battle lasted 98 minutes and witnessed 20 games at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. It was the eighth ranked Czech who was cruising along at the start; scored three straight
game wins before gifting the opportunity back to her rival to come back into the contest. Robson showed immense courage to meet the likes of the former world number two.
Robson, the 18-year-old kept her head up. She fought until the end; wasted an opportunity to close the encounter in the 12th game of the match when she was a leading from a breakpoint. However, the gruelling battle yielded
another breakthrough for her in the 19th game of the set when she converted it to her favour and protected it with a serve hold to close out the best match of the Australian Open 2013 to date.
Laura Robson will square off against Sloane Stephens in round three.
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